Why Solving the Custody Challenge will Define the Next Generation of Institutional Finance
"As a licensed fund manager, we are not allowed to hold BTC ourselves, only through regulated products like ETFs such as IBIT."- Robin Zhang, COO, Winfield Global Capital
That single constraint captures the operational reality by blocking institutional crypto adoption across Asia’s buy-side. Digital assets are gaining legitimacy, but crypto custody infrastructure remains unfit for fiduciary scrutiny. Unlike equities or bonds, digital assets lack the protective scaffolding—deposit insurance, government guarantees, and legal recourse that underpins institutional trust.
At Winfield Global Capital, a multi-family office investing globally for Chinese clients, this challenge is constant: how can regulated fund managers capture digital opportunity without compromising compliance or operational control?
Watch Robin Zhang explain this challenge in his InvestOps Asia interview:
The Regulatory Divide
While Singapore and Europe have tightened crypto rules, the United States has surged ahead anchoring stablecoins to Treasury debt and reinforcing dollar dominance in digital markets. “Three to five years ago, many exchanges came to Singapore,” Zhang noted. “Most left for Dubai or Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong’s structured virtual-asset licensing regime marks progress, but its proposed Stablecoin Act underscores the delicate balance between safeguarding markets and enabling innovation.
The CNY Wild Card
The next potential disruptor? A CNY-backed stablecoin from China that could create a dual-currency digital infrastructure (USD vs CNY) reshaping cross-border settlements and liquidity management across Asia-Pacific markets.
For buy-side operations leaders, this shift demands new operational playbooks: dual-track settlement systems, enhanced FX and counterparty-risk management, and compliance frameworks built for two monetary regimes operating in parallel.
The Generational Wealth Shift
As generational wealth migrates from gold and land to tokenized and digital assets, institutional portfolios must evolve. The question is no longer whether digital assets belong in allocations, it’s who will build the custody and compliance infrastructure to manage them with the same transparency, risk controls, and fiduciary standards as traditional instruments.
"The custody challenge," Zhang concluded, "will define who sets the operational standards for the next generation of finance."
Watch the full conversation with Robin Zhang, COO of Winfield Global Capital, on the future of institutional digital asset operations.